a San Antonio Singer-Songwriter Ila Minori In Europe

San Antonio musicians find it is sometimes necessary to leave the city and the state for more opportunities. It’s important for musicians to break out of the same performance cycles of playing the same venues to the same crowds. Some artists won’t get the breaks they need in a growing market like San Antonio, and travel to other cities looking for the targeted exposure required for growth. Recently, the SA band The Hawks (of Holy Rosary) were in NYC and performed at the famed CMJ Music Marathon. Currently abroad, is singer/songwriter Erica Monzon aka Ila Minori. She is on a writing/recording excursion in Italy,

“It’s been a long-term goal of mine to play in Europe so when the opportunity came for me to reside in Italy for a few months I took it as a sign and the perfect opportunity for me to accomplish that goal.”

Ila is staying in northern Italian town of Dimaro in the mountainous province of Trentino. She was in the planning stages of a new EP here in San Antonio when the opportunity came to light. She has a show scheduled in Vienna Austria on December 6th, a pending date in Berlin, and other local musicians she’s networked with are assisting in booking a few more shows.

After a showcase at the Dewey Beach Music Conference in Delaware, producer Jason Rubal of Seventh Wave Productions contacted Ila, saying he had been listening to her work online and would like to get her in the studio. Rubal has worked with Amanda Palmer and members of The Cure in the past and coincidentally, is scheduled to be in Berlin taking care of pre-production work with another band at the same time Ila will be there. Most of the bands he currently works with are up and coming bands from the UK and Europe:

“After speaking with him we share the same aesthetic and a similar background of music and bands that we like. He sent me a c.d. of bands he’s produced and expressed his desire to do something different from the genres he normally works with (which were artsy, quirky, dirty).”

Erica set up a GoFundMe account, where San Antonio audiences can participate in the growth and evolution of one of our own homegrown artists. The music industry over the last several years, has morphed into an unrecognizable mutant full of self serving organizations that prey on the willingness of performers who have few remaining options to fuel and develop a career in music. Erica set up tiered rewards for those who are smart and kind enough to join in this community endeavor.

“I feel very invigorated, blessed, excited and somewhat relieved at how everything has been panning out. I’m just trying to take in everything here in Italy. It’s such a beautiful country.”

Can’t wait to hear what Ila Minori does next. San Antonio should be proud: one of our own artists left the city, only to carry us along for the ride. Please participate here and be sure to follow along with Ila Minori on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates on what’s to come.

Miles Terracina

Miles Terracina: -chief lyricist and beat programmer of the electronic
music group Mixed Use Media. -Founded the blog & character persona
PunkSoda. -Creator of Sobre Sound -writes about music -likes barbacoa